The blog for Massachusetts Citizens for Life: the pro-life movement in the Bay State since 1973.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Maria Talks: Gov. Patrick Disrespects Parents and Tax-payers

Well, it has been three weeks today since MCFL sent our letter to Gov Patrick expressing serious concerns with Maria Talks and urging that it be shut down and de-funded.Since we have heard nothing back, we have sent another letter to him and a press release.You may also receive a call asking you to call his office.This email is much longer than usual, so I'll list the items.I hope you will definitely call the Governor and read what you can.Thanks!Anne

Boston: Massachusetts Citizens for Life calls on Governor Duval Patrick to reply to their letter of April 21, 2011 and to immediately shut down the state-funded website "Maria Talks" pending an investigation into its funding and approval.

Anne Fox, President of MCFL, wonders whether the Governor has even looked at the site, which, she says, speaks for itself."It is inaccurate and deliberately misleading!It literally coaches minor girls on how to obtain abortions without their parents knowing, trivializes abortion, and entices youngsters to become sexually active.

"The MCFL letter was hand delivered twenty-one days ago.The Governor has not responded.While hedisrespectsthe citizens of the Commonwealth, our children are still exposed to this vile website, which is advertised in the schools.

Tax-payers need to know who in the administration authorized these funds, who approved the one-sided and misleading content of the website, who chose the group involved in creating and maintaining the website, and how it was determined that the group was qualified to counsel minor girls.MCFL will be having pro-lifers across the state call the Governor to remind him of their concerns"

Massachusetts Citizens for Life is the oldest and the largest pro-life organization in the state.

Founded in1973, it is an affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee

On April 21, 2011, Massachusetts Citizens for Life sent you a letter askingyou to have the state-funded web site "Maria Talks" taken down while an inquiry was made into its content and authorization. We also requested a meeting with you on this very serious matter.

Members of our organization and the general public are appalled by the content of the site.

There is medical and psychological misinformation as well as serious infringements on the rights of parents and families. The site practices deception and misleading omission when discussing the realities and risks of abortion and, literally, coaches minors on how to obtain abortions without telling their parents. This is clearly in violation of the legislative intent of the Massachusetts Parental Consent Law.

Besides closing the site, there must be a public accounting of the funding and the decision-making that lead to this serious violation of the public trust. Tax-payers need to know who in your administration authorized these funds, who approved the one-sided and misleading content of the website, who chose the group involved in creating and maintaining the website, and how it was determined that the group was qualified to counsel minor girls.

We speak for concerned parents and taxpayers in the state who are perplexed as to why we have not heard from you concerning our request.We look forward to hearing from you soon.

House bill 1540 will expand the message of the Maria Talks website with respect to abortion and sexuality.This bill should not be passed until the following questions are answered:

As with Maria Talks,

will these programs be telling minors how to get an abortion without telling their parents?

will these programs be giving them contact information and helping to provide a lawyer for the judicial bypass?

will these programs be helping minor girls to obtain abortifaceint drugs, also known as "emergency contraception"?

are these programs willing to risk potentially concealing statutory rape?

will these programs refer minor girls to PPLM, the largest abortion provider in the state?(nearly 2/3 of all abortions in MA in 2009)

As with Maria Talks,

will these programs be deceiving minors by omitting a description of prenatal development or showing an ultrasound?

will these programs be describing an abortion as merely emptying the contents of the womb?

will these programs describe the experience of an abortion as merely causing a little temporary discomfort?

will these programs fail to identify the common physical consequences of an abortion hemorrhage, infection, damage to the cervix, etc.

will these programs de-emphasize adoption and other alternatives to abortion?

As with Maria Talks,

will these programs mislead minors by telling them the failure rate for pregnancy prevention by condom use is 2%? (1 in 50)

will they fail to tell minors that the typical failure rate is 17% (1 in 6)?1

will these programs tell minors that these failure rates only reflect the failures at fertility (6/28 days per cycle), and that the actual failure rate in preventing STI's is even higher?

will these programs fail to tell young people that after nearly three decades of advocating "safer sex" practices in America, 26 % of teenage girls has an STI? 2

will they fail to tell minors that 48% of African American girls has an STI? 3

will these programs tell minor girls that in spite of nearly three decades of advocating condom use, MA has the 11thhighest rate of teen abortion in the nation? 4

will they fail to tell young men that a recent study has estimated that 50% of men in America over the age of 18 has HPV? 5

will these programs tell young people that Gardasil will not protect them against certain HPV strains that cause 30 % ofcervical cancers? 6

will these programs fail to tell young people that, according to the CDC, correct and consistent condom use may not fully protect them against HPV? 7

As with Maria Talks,

will these programs ignore the results of a federally funded study that determined that "comprehensive sexuality education" was one of the least effective strategies for delaying the initiation of sexual activity among high risk students? 8

will these programs ignore the finding that "abstinence only" was the most effective strategy over a two year period? 9

will these programs ignore the rights and wishes ofthe majority of parents who want their children to be taught to abstain throughout their high schools years? 10

will these programs sabotage the guidance of parents by providing young people with contraception and clandestine abortions?

will these programs be entrusted to training and implementation by organizations such as PPLM who have the most to lose in terms of clients by effective abstinence education.

We also believe that all curricula that deal with sexuality issues and abortion,that are funded by taxpayers, and utilized by public schools and state funded agencies, should be posted on the Dept. of Education and Dept. of Health and Human Services websites and otherwise be made available to the public for evaluation.This also includes Health education and "Wellness" curricula that have sexual content embedded in discussions of a range of other health issues.All material should be described in explicit language with respect to abortion, contraception and sexual behavior. The public has a right to know.